Armor Durability Concern

Moderator: Support Moderators

Post Reply
Azmo
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:32 am

Armor Durability Concern

Post by Azmo »

Hello all!
This is my 1st post on these forums, and I would like to start off by saying that I am truly blessed to be able to play UO again, and without all of the expansion crap! Word.
-On to business-
I did a search on this topic and only found statistics, and not this particular concern.
1st, a definition of one of my slang terms:

"A run" - Gearing up with sufficient armor/weaps/bandies/regs/etc. to go out and grind somewhere, with the intention of coming back with a decent pack of loot before the resources run out.
"Let's go make a run to Shame."
My typical run for being 5 days old consists of this gear:
1) Full set of exceptional armor. (see below for contents)
2) 150 bandies.
3) 10 fish steaks
4) 3 apples
5) Katana/Shield/Hally

My issue is that I buy an exceptional set of armor (plate arms, plate hands, plate gorget, ringmail tunic & legs) and during the FIRST run, fighting orcs, I get the "Your equipment is severely damaged" message. This was about halfway through the run.
By the second run, my tunic breaks.
I'm like 5 days old, and 1100 gold for a set of armor is pretty expensive right now. If I'm getting this kind of crappy durability from an exceptional set of armor, how the heck am I supposed to fight with store-bought?
Is anyone else experiencing these results? Is this the reason why people are resorting to stealing instead of being a hero? lol
Any help on this is appreciated, and I am sorry for being long-winded.

Pirul
Posts: 5754
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:19 pm
Location: New Windmere

Re: Armor Durability Concern

Post by Pirul »

Hello!

Well, your experience is not far off reality. Actually, it's pretty much what it is, and what it was in era. The main trouble is what you're fighting during your runs. Orcs, trolls, ogres, earth elementals, etc. will eat through your armor because their melee attack is strong, and for some of them similar to fighting someone using a mace weapon which means your armor is taking double damage.

The solution to your problem is two fold: (1) find a blacksmith who can repair your equipment for free (or cheap) and (2) try hitting on monsters with weaker melee damage and more magery oriented (air elementals, gazers, liches, evil mages, etc.).

Using a warrior does not mean you can't go up against big, mean monsters, you just need to be better prepaired. Carry potions (mostly greater heal, cure and total refresh), carry a GOOD weapon. Some are inexpensive, and will make you theeir cost back in no time (ie. a decent silver power broadsword should cost between 2k - 5k tops, which means 8-15 liches, and it will bring them down in 3 or 4 hits, very much worth the investment).

Another issue we should address is why you're carrying apples?! Is that for your horse? If so, you should know that if your horse gets fatigued, you can simply hop off, say "all follow me", and hop back on. When mounts are in "follow mode" already, you can simply jump off and jump back on, don't even need to repeat the "all follow me" comand.
Image
<ian> 2 chicks making out are not gay

Azmo
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:32 am

Re: Armor Durability Concern

Post by Azmo »

Pirul wrote:Hello!

Well, your experience is not far off reality. Actually, it's pretty much what it is, and what it was in era. The main trouble is what you're fighting during your runs. Orcs, trolls, ogres, earth elementals, etc. will eat through your armor because their melee attack is strong, and for some of them similar to fighting someone using a mace weapon which means your armor is taking double damage.

The solution to your problem is two fold: (1) find a blacksmith who can repair your equipment for free (or cheap) and (2) try hitting on monsters with weaker melee damage and more magery oriented (air elementals, gazers, liches, evil mages, etc.).

Using a warrior does not mean you can't go up against big, mean monsters, you just need to be better prepaired. Carry potions (mostly greater heal, cure and total refresh), carry a GOOD weapon. Some are inexpensive, and will make you theeir cost back in no time (ie. a decent silver power broadsword should cost between 2k - 5k tops, which means 8-15 liches, and it will bring them down in 3 or 4 hits, very much worth the investment).

Another issue we should address is why you're carrying apples?! Is that for your horse? If so, you should know that if your horse gets fatigued, you can simply hop off, say "all follow me", and hop back on. When mounts are in "follow mode" already, you can simply jump off and jump back on, don't even need to repeat the "all follow me" comand.
Thank you, Pirul!
Your solutions are spot-on, and it's a matter of the speed at which my armor gets broken.
I just wish I could tote a little blacksmith around in my backpack :)
The apples are for my horse, yes, lol. I carried apples around for 3 years until I got my 1st ethie on OSI. I've had a horse buck me off for not feeding it, so I learned my lesson!
We can consider this matter closed, and it might be a good idea to make this a sticky. You gave some good tips for new players :)

User avatar
Duul al'Vath
UOSA Subscriber!
UOSA Subscriber!
Posts: 299
Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Talladega, AL
Contact:

Re: Armor Durability Concern

Post by Duul al'Vath »

(plate arms, plate hands, plate gorget, ringmail tunic & legs)

Where do you get such a suit?
This is the worst armor combination I can think of.
Your chest gets hit 44% of the time, hands and neck 7% of the time. You are losing Dex to platemail items in places that don't get hit very often.

A triditional Light Archer suit with Chain tunic & legs, Ring sleeves & gloves, plate gorget, and helm gives you better protection at only -1 dex. That being said, your chain tunic will get beat up fast because it is first level of defense for your chest 44% and arms 14% meaning that 58% of the hits are going to hit your chain tunic.

For that reason, I actually prefer a suit built w/ Hit Location in mind. Plate chest, chain legs, ring sleeves & gloves, studded gorget, helm. you lose 5 dex but it is in the chest where you get hit the most anyway.
Last edited by Mikel123 on Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: adblock v1.0
Image

Thelonious Black and Otmar the Mad of the UBB
Arms & Armor by Thelonious Black

Pirul
Posts: 5754
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:19 pm
Location: New Windmere

Re: Armor Durability Concern

Post by Pirul »

I actually agree on the suit. The only thing I'd change is adding plate arms.

Plate chest and arms, chain legs, ring gloves, studded gorget and closed helm.
Image
<ian> 2 chicks making out are not gay

Mikel123
UOSA Subscriber!
UOSA Subscriber!
Posts: 4607
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:44 pm

Re: Armor Durability Concern

Post by Mikel123 »

Studded gorget is nice in theory, but the lack of durability/repairability often meant I was cruising around with less than optimal AR. I went with a plate gorget and never looked back.

User avatar
Duul al'Vath
UOSA Subscriber!
UOSA Subscriber!
Posts: 299
Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Talladega, AL
Contact:

Re: Armor Durability Concern

Post by Duul al'Vath »

I've actually been contemplating selling suits like this: Chain tunic x2, chain legs, ring gloves, helm, and either studded or plate gorget. Since the chain tunic covers both arms and chest it takes the bulk of the damage. By supplying a second one you could rotate them as AR dropped.
Image

Thelonious Black and Otmar the Mad of the UBB
Arms & Armor by Thelonious Black

Post Reply

Return to “New Player Help”